Analyzing devices such as colorimetric analyzing device, fluorometric analyzing device, immune analyzing device and blood coagulation analyzing device are conventionally known as a device for accommodating the reaction sample prepared from the specimen and the reagent in the reaction container, irradiating light from the light source onto the reaction container and analyzing various aspects of the specimen.
In this type of analyzing device, the specimen and the reagent are dispensed in the reaction container. The specimen and the reagent are then stirred and warmed (incubated) over a predetermined time to prepare a reaction sample. The sample preparing steps depend on the measurement items and the measurement principle, and most steps involve adding a plurality of reagents to the specimen.
In one example of preparing the sample by the immune analyzing device, the specimen dispensed in the reaction container and a first reagent containing trapped antibody are first stirred and warmed as described above to prepare a sample in which the antigen contained in the specimen and the trapped antibody are bound. The mixed solution obtained by adding a second reagent containing the magnetic particles to the relevant sample is then stirred and warmed to prepare a sample in which the magnetic particles and the trapped antibody are bound. The magnet is brought close to the reaction sample to separate the bound antigen, trapped antibody and magnetic particles, and the unnecessary components, and the reaction liquid is suctioned and cleaned to remove the unnecessary components from the sample (BF separation).
A third reagent containing labeled antibody that binds with the antigen in the specimen is added to the sample removed with the unnecessary components, and the mixed solution is stirred and warmed to prepare a sample in which the antigen bound with the magnetic particles and the labeled antibody are bound. The BF separation similar to the above is performed on the relevant sample to remove the unnecessary components from the sample. Furthermore, a fourth reagent which is a buffer liquid and a fifth reagent containing a light emitting substrate are added to the relevant sample, and the mixed solution is stirred and warmed to prepare the reaction sample for measurement.
In such immune analyzing device, the light emitting amount generated by the reaction between the labeled antibody and the light emitting substrate after the complicating sample preparing steps is measured to quantitatively measure the antigen contained in the specimen that binds with the labeled antibody.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 6-160401 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 3-175361 disclose a device in which a specimen dispensing unit, a plurality of reagent dispensing units, a stirring device, a detecting unit etc. are arranged around a rotatable table holding a plurality of reaction containers, and the operation units of the specimen dispensing unit, the sample dispensing unit, the stirring device etc. are operated according to a predetermined sequence while rotating the rotatable table to perform the complicating sample preparing steps in each reaction container. The devices disclosed in the above publications are arranged with a plurality of container setting sections (driving devices) for setting the reaction container on the rotatable table or taking out the reaction container from the rotatable table, which container setting sections are arranged around the rotatable table.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,129 Publication discloses a blood coagulation analyzing device including a plurality of pipettes for dispensing the reagent for the specimens to perform coagulation reaction, a first rotatable table for holding the container accommodating the specimen and the container accommodating the reagent, a second rotatable table arranged with a warming device for warming the container accommodating the specimen at a predetermined temperature, an analyzing stage for optically detecting the degree of coagulation of the reaction sample prepared by adding reagent to the specimen warmed to the predetermined temperature, and a container distributing and supplying device arranged between the first rotatable table and the second rotatable table. In the relevant blood coagulation analyzing device, the container accommodating the specimen is transferred to the first rotatable table and the container accommodating the specimen is transferred to the second rotatable table by the container distributing and supplying device. In addition, a chucking finger positioned at one part of the circumference of the second rotatable table and on the upper part in the vertical direction of the analyzing stage to move in the front and back or left and right (X-Y) direction and to move in the up and down direction along the vertical direction is arranged in the blood coagulation analyzing device. The container accommodating the specimen is gripped from the second rotatable table by the chucking finger, and dispensed with reagent by the reagent dispensing unit and then stirred, and thereafter, the container is transferred to the analyzing stage.
However, in the devices disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 6-160401 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 3-175361, the container setting section (driving device) for transferring the reaction container is arranged on the outer side of the rotatable table, only the reaction container conveyed to the vicinity of the container setting section with the rotation of the rotatable table can be transferred, and the destination of the reaction container is limited to the vicinity of the container setting section. Therefore, when transferring the reaction container among a plurality of positions of the rotatable table, the container setting section must be arranged in the vicinity of the relevant position, which enlarges the device and increases the cost. Furthermore, the processing sequence of the specimen is limited by the arrangement of the container setting section since only the reaction container positioned in the vicinity of the container setting section can be transferred. Therefore, the control of the rotatable table becomes complicating or measurement may not be possible for some items when measuring a plurality of items.
The chucking finger of the coagulation analyzing device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,129 is attached to the guide rails in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction arranged above one part of the second rotatable table and the analyzing stage. Thus, the chucking finger must move from the outside of the second rotatable table, hold the reaction container and transfer the same to the destination when transferring the reaction container on the second rotatable table, and thus the movement amount of the chucking finger is great.
It is conventionally known to analyze the substance to be analyzed using a solid phase reagent obtained by sensitizing the binding substance for the substance to be analyzed (antibody etc. for substance to be analyzed) in the liquid sample to solid phase and a labeled reagent. In this analysis, the liquid sample and the solid phase reagent are mixed and reacted, the solid phase bound with the substance to be analyzed (bound) and the other liquid (Free) are separated, the BF separating process of cleaning the separated solid phase is performed, and the amount of substance to be analyzed bound to the solid phase is measured.
The analyzing method described above includes a sandwich method in which a labeled reagent containing the binding substance different from the binding substance on the solid phase is bound to the substance to be analyzed bound to the binding substance on the solid phase, and a competitive method of competing the substance to be analyzed and the labeled reagent in binding to the solid phase, and the analyzing method corresponding to the substance to be analyzed is used.
The analyzing method described above is divided into two methods depending on the reaction step. The first method (two step assay method) is a method of performing the reaction process by mixing and reacting the liquid sample and the solid phase reagent, further mixing and reacting the labeled reagent, performing the BF separating process of separating into the solid phase bound with the substance to be analyzed and the labeled reagent (Bound) and the other liquid (Free) and cleaning and detecting the amount of label bound to the solid phase to analyze the substance in the liquid sample; and the second method (one step assay method) is a method of mixing and reacting the liquid sample, the reagent containing solid phase and the labeled reagent, performing the BF separating process of separating into the solid phase bound with the substance to be analyzed and the labeled reagent (Bound) and the other liquid (Free) and cleaning, and detecting the amount of label bound to the solid phase to analyze the substance in the liquid sample.
A method using the magnetic particles for the solid phase of the analyzing method involving the BF separating process is also known. An automatic analyzing device equipped with a dispensing mechanism for dispensing the sample and the magnetic particle reagent into the reaction container, a stirring mechanism for mixing the reacting container, a magnetism collecting mechanism for collecting the magnetic particles by contacting the magnet to the side wall of the reaction container subjected to reaction, a cleaning mechanism for suctioning the released sample in the magnetism collected state and injecting cleaning fluid, a stirring mechanism for stirring the reaction container injected with cleaning fluid, a dispensing mechanism for dispensing the labeled reagent, and a detecting mechanism for detecting the label is known as the automatic analyzing device for analyzing with the solid phase reagent using magnetic particles (see e.g., WO88/02866, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-40122, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-168866).
The automatic analyzing device disclosed in WO88/02866 is configured so that the transfer disc of disc shape holding the reaction cell rotates and transfers the held reaction cell to the dispensing unit of the sample and the reagent, the reaction processing unit, the magnetic separating unit, the vibrating unit and the detecting unit at a predetermined timing. The magnetic separating unit is arranged at four locations, and at each magnetic separating unit, the BF separation of contacting the magnet to the side wall of the reaction cell to collect magnetism, and cleaning and removing the released sample is performed.
The automatic analyzing device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 5-40122 is configured so that when a linear reaction line holding the reaction cell with a belt is moved, the reaction cell on the reaction line is also moved to the dispensing unit of the sample and the reagent, the reaction processing unit, the BF separating unit and the detecting unit. In the BF separating unit, the magnet is contacted to the side wall of two reaction cells to collect magnetism, the released sample is cleaned and stirring is performed.
The automatic analyzing device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-168866 includes a reaction table for holding the reaction cell, and is configured so that the cell conveying mechanism moves the reaction cell to the reaction processing position in the reaction table and the BF separating position. In the BF separating position, the magnet is simultaneously contacted to the side wall of six reaction cells and the BF separation of cleaning and removing the released sample is performed.
In such automatic analyzing devices, the BF separation is an important step, and the analyzing result greatly differs if the BF separation is insufficient. Thus, a configuration is provided so that magnetism collection is performed on the plurality of reaction cells to take enough time for magnetism collection.
However, in the automatic analyzing device disclosed in WO88/02866 Publication, all the reaction cells held at the transfer disc must be moved to move the target reaction to the reagent dispensing unit, the magnetism collecting unit and the stirring unit by rotating the transfer disc. In addition, in the automatic analyzing device disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication No. 5-40122, the target reaction cells must be conveyed in order to the dispensing unit, the reaction processing unit and the BF separating unit. Furthermore, in the automatic analyzing device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-168866, the BF separating unit must perform the BF separating process simultaneously on six reaction cells at a predetermined position of the reaction table. Thus, in these automatic analyzing devices, the measurement flow becomes complicating if the analyzing method and the reaction step must be changed depending on the measurement items, or the processing speed must be complied to the measurement items that require time in the reaction step if the reaction step includes both measurement items that require time and the measurement items that does not require time, and thus the processing speed is limited.